Method for providing a massage on seats, and a device for implementing this method

ABSTRACT

This invention concerns a method for providing a massage, especially to the back areas of persons who have to sit for a relatively long time on seats, especially motor-vehicle seats. This massage is achieved in accordance with the invention by a periodic or a continuous motion of massage elements placed in the seat surface and/or in the backrest, in a forward and backward and/or up and down direction, with this motion being within the range of sitting surfaces and/or back surfaces of such persons.  
     The invention also concerns a device for the implementation of the method, which is located in a seat, especially in a motor-vehicle seat, having a supporting element ( 1 ) that is positioned on the frame of the seat portion and/or on the frame of the backrest and that can be bowed out by means of a motor drive for the purpose of supporting body surfaces of a person According to the invention, every supporting element ( 1 ) bears massage elements ( 6 ), and in addition to its arching movement is able to be moved up and down or forward and back, whereby at least this additional motion is accomplished by a motor drive in a periodic or continuous fashion by means of a switching arrangement.

[0001] This invention relates to a method for providing a massage, especially a massage of areas on the backs of persons who for a relatively long time have been sitting on seats, especially motor-vehicle seats, and a device for implementing this method.

[0002] Persons who have to remain seated for relatively long periods of time develop symptoms of fatigue and disturbed circulation, which as a whole have a negative effect on their well-being, concentration, and performance. In the case of relatively long automobile trips in particular, this is undesirable in terms of road safety. In fact it is recommended that people take rest breaks and engage in physical exercises every now and then, but this cannot always be done, for example in stoplight-controlled traffic, and finally it is not advisable to stop in the dark at freeway parking areas.

[0003] There are seats familiar to the art, in particular including motor-vehicle seats, that contain a vibrating mechanism. However, such vibrating mechanisms are not very effective, and often they transmit their vibrations also to other parts of a motor vehicle, and frequently this gives rise to unwelcome secondary effects. Also familiar are motor-vehicle seats which in particular have a supporting element within the backrest, with this element being such that it can be bowed out to various degrees by means of a hand-driven or motor-driven apparatus, in order to provide an optimal support to the back areas of the car driver and/or front-seat passenger. This arching element can likewise be adjusted in height by a manual or motor drive in order to provide any desired accommodation to a person of any given size.

[0004] Also familiar to the art is a means for providing a supporting element over a bellows in the backrest of a motor-vehicle seat, with this bellows being periodically filled and emptied so that a forward-and-backward movement is transmitted to the areas of a person's back that are in contact with the backrest. However, this forward and backward movement is not very effective in terms of benefits to the person's circulation.

[0005] The object of the invention is to specify a method and a device that make it possible for the energy of a seated person to improve for an extended period, in the sense of helping to attain a better circulation and to avoid symptoms of fatigue.

[0006] This object is achieved by a method having the features of claim 1. Advantageous embodiments of this method can be seen in the dependent claims 2 to 4.

[0007] This object is also achieved by a device having the features of claim 5. Advantageous embodiments of this device can be seen in the dependent claims 6 to 16.

[0008] The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to some drawings. These show:

[0009]FIG. 1 a supporting element with massage elements;

[0010]FIG. 2 a supporting element having spindles with right-angle bends that hold massage elements;

[0011]FIG. 3 a supporting element with side-wings situated at an angle, with massage elements that are offset in height with respect to the central portion;

[0012]FIG. 4 various shapes for massage elements in cross section;

[0013]FIG. 5 various shapes for massage elements in longitudinal section.

[0014] The exemplary embodiments specified later on begin with the backrest of a motor-vehicle seat that has a supporting element 1, which by means of a motor drive can be adjusted in its degree of camber and at the same time can be adjusted in height by a motor drive as well. Such backrests are familiar, for example from DE 43 14 325, and are not specified here any further.

[0015] In order to ensure a continuous or periodic motion for the massage based on the invention, a switching arrangement is provided that, in accordance with an initial solution to the problem, involves two limit switches, one in an upper and one in a lower location of the supporting element, which are used to give a reversal of motion of the motor drive. This reversal of motion is preferably buffered in order to also make sure that the system can be continuously operated for long periods of time. By varying the setting of the limit switches, the path of motion needed or desired at any particular time can be changed. In a different solution that does not entail a reversal of motion of the motor, the driving is effected via a non-reversing eccentric-cam arrangement, by way of which the propulsion is converted to up-and-down or forward-and-back motions. Such switching arrangements and drives are generally familiar, so that they are not specified here any further.

[0016] The exemplary embodiments elucidated below only concern backrests, with it being clear that they can be used in a similar way also for the vehicle seat per se.

[0017] Each of the supporting elements 1 shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 has a central portion 2, which ends at the top in a terminal shoulder 3 that is extended laterally in each case, and at the bottom in a terminal portion 4. The latter has the same design in FIG. 1 and 2 and a different design in FIG. 3.

[0018] The supporting element 1 along with its terminal shoulder 3 and its terminal portion 4 is placed in such a way that it can be arched out and varied in height upon the frame of the backrest, which is not depicted, either directly or indirectly via a plate. However, the supporting element 1 can also be arranged to be on a backing plate, on which it can be arched out, with it being possible for the backing plate itself to be variable in height, and possibly also to be movable forward and backward at right angles to this. These variants are not shown either.

[0019] Each supporting element 1 is manufactured as a flexionally elastic piece out of a metal or plastic material or out of combinations of these, for example by means of punching out from a plate or a sheet, by riveting processes, or in the case of plastic also by compression molding. Each supporting element 1 has numerous recesses 5 in the central portion 2. The recesses 5 serve the purpose, for one thing, of reducing the weight, and for another that of accommodating massage elements 6 that project beyond the surface of the supporting element 1.

[0020] The massage elements 6 can be manufactured as projections that are rigidly affixed to or molded out of the supporting element 1, preferably with these having a spherically shaped surface, and with these positioned on the central portion 2 and the optionally configured side pieces. If the massage elements 6 are of the stationary type, then when there are movements an increased friction arises between the motions of the supporting element 1 and the not-shown seatcover material of the backrest or the seat, which necessitates a larger power output from the drive, and on the other hand this results in an increased material wear on the rubbing surfaces.

[0021] For this reason, it is preferable for the massage elements 6 to be designed in the form of rotatable solids of revolution. In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1, four spindles 7 are provided at equal spacings from one another on the central portion 2 and extending laterally beyond this portion, on which are seated in rotatable fashion, in the central portion 2, two or more disks 8 that are round in cross section. Additional disks 8 are positioned so as to be rotatable on the portions of the spindles 7 that jut out laterally, but these have an increasingly larger diameter the further they are away from the central portion 2. This increasingly larger diameter has the effect of providing a side support to a person's back as it rests in the backrest. In this embodiment, all the massage elements are in the shape of disks 8 that lie in a spindle line.

[0022] In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the supporting element 1 has four spindles 9, the free spindle necks 10 of which have been offset. Because of this the massage elements that are located to the side of the central portion 2, which are not drawn in here, are always at a height different from the massage elements arranged within the central portion 2 on the central spindle portions 11.

[0023]FIG. 3 shows one variant of a supporting element 1, in which the central portion 2 is connected in each case via a hinge 12 to side pieces 14, which have their own self-contained framework 13. By means of the connection via a hinge 12 that is relatively short in height, the side pieces 14 do not get very bowed or do not get bowed at all when the central portion 2 is bowed out. That is, here practically all of the massage elements of the side pieces 14 continue to be in contact with a person's back even when a particularly extensive arching of the central portion 2 has been initiated and possibly the massage elements positioned at the top and bottom ends of the central portion 2 may still be applying only a slight contact pressure. The massage elements 6 in the side pieces 14 are such as to rotate on four spindles 15 seated in each case within the frame 13.

[0024] The cross section of the massage elements 6 can be—when viewed at right angles to their axis of rotation—circular, egg-shaped, that of a rounded triangle or polygon, a rounded star shape, or a fluted body, and can be—when viewed in parallel with the axis of rotation—globular, disk-shaped, wave-like, or cylindrical, or any combinations of these. They can be centrally or eccentrically rotatable on a spindle, either individually or after being connected rigidly with other elements. But they can also be provided in a rigid arrangement on a spindle, whereby the spindle itself is able to rotate. In the case where the spindle is rotatable, this can be set rotating via a drive belt or by means of a gear wheel provided on it along with a synchronous belt or a rack-and-pinion drive. When the spindle itself can be driven, an eccentric arrangement of the massage elements is particularly advantageous, since in that case different pressures can be applied to contiguous areas of the back.

[0025] The massage elements can be made out of rubber, wood, plastic, metal, or also out of any desired combinations of these.

[0026] In order to facilitate assembly, the spindles 7, 9 or even 15 can be attached via clip connectors into which they can be snapped, whereby preferably the massage elements can be pre-mounted, either as rotatable elements or in rigid fashion, and possibly also several combined into a single block, as desired. The side pieces with their spindles can also be provided so as to form an angle with the central portion. The side spindles can also be arranged so as to form a direct line with or else be offset 90 from the central portion.

[0027] The process takes the following course: at regular intervals the person sitting on the seat containing the device switches on the drive, whereby the supporting element is put into a continuous up-and-down motion. This causes the massage elements across the surface of the backrest or the seat to roll along or move over the body parts touching them, in the course of which they exert a pressure that is felt as a massage. This massaging effect can be varied on the one hand by having a different design for massage elements that are positioned above others and below yet others as well as for elements in the offset portion, and also by giving them different shapes and central or eccentric orientations as bodies of revolution. Another way to intensify or vary the massage effect can be achieved by imparting to the supporting element and thus to the massage elements an additional forward-and-back movement roughly at right angles to the up-and-down motion. This forward-and-back motion can be made to be uniform over the height of the device. But by varying the amount of arching this motion can also be designed to be greater at some points and less at certain other points. An additional effect can be achieved by means of variously shaped massage elements, especially in the case of an eccentric positioning, if the individual spindles with massage elements rigidly attached to them are themselves made to rotate. 

1. Method for providing a massage, especially to the back areas of persons who sit for a relatively long time on seats, especially motor-vehicle seats, characterized by a periodic or continuous motion of massage elements placed in the seat surface and/or in the backrest, in a forward and backward and/or up and down direction, with this motion being within the range of sitting surfaces and/or back surfaces of such persons.
 2. Method based on claim 1, characterized such that the motion of massage elements distributed over the seat height is executed via paths of differing lengths.
 3. Method based on claim 1 or 2, characterized such that the moving of the massage elements is accomplished by means of a motor drive.
 4. Method based on claim 3, characterized such that at the end of their movement the massage elements are automatically brought back to an initial position that can be preset.
 5. Device for the implementation of the method, located in a seat, especially in a motor-vehicle seat in accordance with claim 1, having a supporting element (1) that is positioned on the frame of the seat portion and/or on the frame of the backrest and that can be bowed out by means of a motor drive for the purpose of supporting body surfaces of a person, characterized such that every supporting element (1) bears massage elements (6), and in addition to its arching movement it is able to be moved up and down or forward and back, whereby at least this additional motion is accomplished by a motor drive in a periodic or continuous fashion by means of a switching arrangement.
 6. Device based on claim 5, characterized such that the massage elements (6) are designed to be stationary projections.
 7. Device based on claim 6, characterized such that the massage elements (6) are rotatable bodies of revolution.
 8. Device based on claim 7, characterized such that these bodies of revolution are circular, oval, or star-shaped.
 9. Device based on claim 7 or 8, characterized such that these bodies of revolution are seated so as to be individually rotatable.
 10. Device based on claim 7 or 8, characterized such that several such bodies of revolution are rigidly connected to one another.
 11. Device based on one of the claims 5 to 10, characterized such that the massage elements (6) are made out of plastic, wood, rubber, metal, or a combination of these.
 12. Device based on one of the claims 5 to 11, characterized such that the massage elements (6) are arranged in vertical and/or horizontal rows.
 13. Device based on one of the claims 5 to 12, characterized such that the massage elements have increasingly larger diameters in the direction of the side margins of the supporting element (1).
 14. Device based on one of the claims 7 to 13, characterized such that the bodies of rotation are connected to a drive.
 15. Device based on one of the claims 5 to 14, characterized such that the switching arrangement includes an adjustable time switch.
 16. Device based on one of the claims 5 to 15, characterized such that the switching arrangement has a switch for the automatic resetting of the supporting element (1) to the preset initial position after each movement cycle. 